26th January - Republic Day of India

We all feel proud to be Indians. This identity is reflected in the various 'days' of national significance that we observe. These are Independence Day (15th August), Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October) and Republic Day (26th January). Republic day is celebrated every year in remembrance of the adoption of the Indian constitution and the subsequent acceptance of India as a republic.

India became independent from the British rule on 15th August, 1947. The draft committee under the supervision of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was appointed (right after independence) in August 1947 to finalise the Indian constitution. The draft constitution that was submitted to the Indian assembly in November 1947 was discussed over and modified for the next 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days, in open public sessions. The hand written document in two languages (both Hindi and English) was then signed by all 308 assembly members on 24th January, 1950.

The significance of the date chosen as the Republic day of India was due to some other reasons altogether. It was on this day in the year 1927 that members of the Indian National Congress had pledged their votes for complete independence from the British dominion. This date was thus chosen to respect the wishes of the freedom fighters who had initially wanted this day to be the Indian Independence Day. It was thus that the Indian constitution came into effect from 26th January, 1950 and it was on this date that India became a self governed nation with elected representatives of its people. We, as Indians celebrate this historic event on the 26th of January every year.